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JANUARY
1.....................NEW YEAR'S DAY -National holiday
celebrated with dances and fiestas.
8.....................DAY OF THE THREE KINGS (Dia de los
Santos Reyes) - National holiday when children receive their
Christmas gifts and shoes full of candy (instead of stockings).
17..................ST. ANTHONY'S DAY - All of Mexico celebrates
by taking their animals to church and blessing them.
18-20............DAY OF SANTA PRISCA - Taxco celebrates
a fair and dances.
FEBRUARY
2.................. CANDELARIA DAY (Candlemas Day) - All
of Mexico celebrates with dances, processions, and for those
that can afford, a bullfight. One of the better celebrations
is held at Tlacotalpan, Veracruz.
5...................CONSTITUCION DAY - All of Mexico celebrates
with parades and fireworks. The
Constitution of 1917 | The
Constitution of Mexico
24.................FLAG DAY - National holiday commemorating
the birth of the Mexican flag in 1821, celebrated with parades
and fireworks.
MARCH
18.................EXPROPIATION OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
- All of Mexico celebrates, especially Poza Rica. Black
Gold, Fool's Gold: The Oiling of a Crisis
21................BIRTH OF BENITO JUAREZ - National holiday
celebrated with parades and fireworks. Birth
Of Benito Juarez
APRIL
25...............ST. MARK'S DAY - Famous three-century
old fair held in Aguascalientes, which usually lasts about two
weeks and features musicians, charros (gentlemen cowboys), and
bullfights. One of the largest and best in Mexico. Easter
Week In Mexico
MAY
1................LABOR DAY - National holiday celebrates
with civic exercises, parades, and fireworks. (Most of the world,
excluding the U.S., recognizes May 1st as Labor Day.)
3................DAY OF THE HOLY CROSS - Religious festivities
held in many parts of the country, particularly colorful in Milpa
Alta near Mexico City and Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
5...............FIFTH OF MAY (Cinco de Mayo) - National
holiday celebrating the defeat of the French at Puebla in 1862.
Cinco de Mayo
10.............MOTHER'S DAY - National holiday beginning
in the wee hours with songs to the mothers. Mother's
Day | Motherhood
in Mexico | A
Village Mother's Day
JUNE
Mid.........CORPUS CHRISTI DAY - All of Mexico celebrates
by blessing the first fruits. In Papantla, the Voladores (Flying
Dancers) perform their famed aerial dance.
24............DAY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST - Celebrated
by all of Mexico, many taking a tradicional swim at dawn. Native
dances are held in Navojoa Sonora;Guanajuato;and Tehuantepec,Oaxaca.
29...........DAY OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL - All of Mexico
Celebrates. Mexcaltitan, Nayarit features a race around the island
by a pair of canoes manned by the images of St. Paul and St.
Peter. If St. Peter wins,tradicion and old belief assure a good
shrimp season.
JULY
Mid..........LUNES DEL CERRO - Indians from the seven regions
of Oaxaca state perform a fascinating pre-Columbian dance, one
of the most important Indian ceremonias in Mexico on the last
two Mondays in July. La
Guelaguetza, a Oaxacan Ceremony
25............ST. JAMES DAY - Celebrated by all of Mexico
in memory of St. James.
AUGUST
15............FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION - All of Mexico celebrates,
but the major festivities take place in Huamantla, Tlaxcala with
its floral street carpet, in Cholula,Puebla, and Milpa Alta,
D.F.
SEPTEMBER
1.............STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS - National Holiday.
16...........INDEPENDENCE DAY - National holiday celebrated
with parades, fairs, fireworks, and rodeos. The festivities are
most impressive in Mexico City and Dolores Hidalgo (site of the
reading of the Declaration of Independence) and begin on the
eve of independence with the "grito" or cry for freedom.Hidalgo's Call for
Mexican Independence
29............DAY OF ST. MICHAEL (Patron Saint of Horsemen)
- Fiestas and rodeos are held and fireworks displayed in all
towns having San Miguel as part of their names, especially in
San Miguel de Allende.
OCTOBER
1-31........Guadalajara, Jalisco celebrates its annual
festival. Guadalajaras
Fiestas de Octubre
4.............DAY IF ST. FRANCIS - All of Mexico honors
the Franciscan Order with dances,music, and fireworks. Particularly
interesting are the celebrations held in Pachuca,Uruapan, and
Puebla
12...........DAY OF THE RACE - (Dia de la Raza) or our
COLUMBUS DAY - National holiday. A religious festival is observed
at Zapopan, next to Guadalajara.
Christopher
Columbus, Saint or Sinner
NOVEMBER
1-2.........ALL SOULS' DAY - National holiday when, beginning
on the eve of this day, families decorate the graves of their
departed with flowers, food, and candies. Day
of the Dead | A
Feast Fit for a Ghost | Celebrating
Death Mexican Style
20...........ANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION OF 1910 - National
holiday celebrates with parades and firework. The
Mexican Revolution
DECEMBER
8............DAY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION - All of
Mexico celebrates with feasts in honor of the day.
12.........DAY OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE - Fiestas are held
throughout Mexico in honor of their patroness (cooresponds with
our Mary). The fair in Tequila, beginning the first of the month,
is especially interesting. Our
Lady Of Guadalupe
16-24.......All of Mexico prepares for Christmas with nine
days of traditional festivities. The Posada, a re-enactment of
the Holy Family's search for shelter in Bethlehem, is a joyous
religous and social event, ending with a piņata party.
The processions are most impressive in Oaxaca,Queretaro, and
San Miguel de Allende.Patzcuaro. Las
Posadas | A
Piņata Tradition | History
of The Piņata
23............NIGHT OF THE RADISHES - In Oaxaca, the city's
main square is filled with booths set up to display huge, weirdly
shaped radishes. There are also fiestas and picturesque processions.
25..........CHRISTMAS DAY -National holiday. Mexico's
Long Christmas , Celebrating
Christmas in Mexico - Posadas | Angels
all around us
28..........DAY OF THE INNOCENTS - National Holiday similar
to April Fools's Day, celebrated with lots of practical jokes.
31..........NEW YEAR'S EVE - Local celebrations are held
in main plazas followed by traditional midnight suppers and masses
throughout Mexico. |